True Love Will Find It's Way
by moveoverlily
Summary: James and Lily's seventh year. Will Lily finally give in to James or will he still just be an arrogant little jerk? Read to find out how Lily falls for James. Romance with some of the other marauders too. Please read!
1. Just the beggining

True Love Will Find It's Way

Lily was starting to get impatient, so she got up and started to pace around the room. Her mother was supposed to have picked her up ten minutes ago.

What are you so excited about?" Scoffed Petunia "Getting ready to go to that FREAK school of yours?"

"Oh I'd shut it if I were you! You don't want me to blast you away to smithereens do you?" said Lily

"You aren't even allowed to use magic outside of school!" retorted Petunia

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you. I'm head girl now- **I** can do whatever I want!" said Lily although she new perfectly well it wasn't true.

Petunia glared at Lily and then stomped out of the room. She was Lily's older sister. They had gotten along fine until exactly six years ago, when Lily was eleven, Lily received a letter from an owl that changed their relationship forever. The letter was an invitation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Since the time that Lily had been a little girl she had always dreamed of magical worlds and had always fancied the idea of flying on a broom, so you can imagine that she accepted the invitation in the blink of an eye. Her parents, being muggles, knew nothing of the wizarding world but they thought they would give the school a chance. Petunia on the other hand thought her whole family had gone insane and insisted that Lily was a freak. Still, nothing could have changed Lily's mood that day. She thought it was the best day of her life! That had been exactly six years ago, and now in one week Lily would be going into her seventh year at Hogwarts.

(Honk Honk) Lily jumped at the sound of her mother's car. She was so caught up thinking about petunia that she had already forgotten her mother was supposed to picking her up to take her to Diagon Alley where she would be buying her school supplies.

"Hey mum." Lily said as she stepped into the car.

"Hi darling," said Mrs. Evans "sorry I was late, but I got stuck in traffic. So, are you sure it's alright that you stay at Casey's with jade?"

"Yes mum, Casey sent me a letter saying she would meet me at Diagon Alley and that it was fine for me to stay at her house until school starts. Oh, and jade is going too," said Lily. Jade and Casey were Lily's two best friends. They had been best friends since they met each other on the train ride to Hogwarts. Casey had blonde straight hair that fell right upon her shoulders and hazel eyes that swelled with kindness. She was a very sweet person that always looked for the best in people. Jade on the other hand was more of a bitter-sweet kind of person. If she thought someone was being a stuck-up jerk she would go right up to them and tell them off. She really didn't care what people thought about her. Her features really stood out. She had tight golden locks and her eyes were a very dark shade of brown that sometimes gave her a cold appearance but at the same time, they were beautiful.

"Mum, this is it - you can drop me off right here," said Lily with an excited look on her face. She hadn't seen Jade and Casey all summer.

"Alright sweety," said Mrs. Evans "Take care of yourself and don't forget to write me."

"Yes, mum. Don't worry this IS my seventh year, remember?" said Lily.

"Yes dear, but with Lord What's-his-name on the rise I want you to be extra careful." Mrs. Evans said. At the end of Lily's sixth year it had been announced that a dark wizard by the name of Lord Voldemort was trying to take over, and had already killed a number of witches and wizards.

"I know, I know, that must be like the hundredth time you've told me," said Lily.

"I'm sorry, but I'm just so worried about you," Mrs. Evans said.

"I know. Well mom I have to go. I love you," said Lily. Mrs. Evans gave Lily a kiss on the cheek and then said goodbye.

"Lily! Lily! Over here!" Lily turned to see jade and Casey waving to her.

"Hey guys," Lily said as she approached them. They were talking with Remus and Peter.

"Hello," said Remus

"Hi," squeaked peter

"We were just talking about where we were going to go next," Casey said

"Can we got to Flourish and Blotts?" said Lily "I really fancy having some new quills."

"O lordi Lily," Jade sighed "Don't you have enough quills already?"

"Well you can never have too many quills," Lily said, but at the look on jade's face she quickly said "Well…what can I say? I use a lot of quills."

"Yes, yes, we know you do Lily. Well we are gunna go to Quality Quidditch Supplies after this," Jade said. Jade was one of the chasers of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Alright, shall we go then," Remus said

"Yes we shall," said Casey, and the two of them walked off to Flourish and Blotts arm in arm. They had been going out since the end of sixth year.

"Oh, they are so adorable," said Lily admiring the relationship that Casey had with Remus.

"Hey! There you are you two numnuts!" said James as he burst into Flourish and Blotts almost knocking down a basket full of quills.

"We've been looking for you lot all over this place," said Sirius

"Sorry," said Remus "Peter and I ran into Casey, Lily, and Jade." James looked around the room. A huge grin slowly appeared across his face as he spotted Lily Evans. _"She's so beautiful,"_ James thought. He loved her so much. Perhaps it was because she was so hard to get, or maybe because of her attitude on life. Whatever it was James knew that he loved her and that he was never going to give up. _"How come she's the only girl that doesn't like me?"_

"Hi Lily dear," James said as he approached Lily.

"Oh please Potter, save the sweet talk," said Lily.

"Well you see Lily; I was just on my way to Quality Quidditch Supplies, but I just can't imagine what it would be like going without you." James said with a playful smile on his face.

"Potter, you know perfectly well that I-"

"She wants to go," said jade before Lily could finish her sentence.

"No I-," Lily tried again.

"Great!" said James

"Well then, c'mon let's go," Jade said. She grabbed Lily by the hand and pulled her out of the store.

"Jade!" Lily said in frustration as she was being pulled out of Flourish and Blotts "I'm going to kill you."

"Oh c'mon," Jade replied "you promised me we were gunna go anyway."

Once they got to the store Jade left Lily's side and ran to see the latest brooms. Casey and Remus were outside of the store waiting for them, and Sirius and peter were having an argument on the number of times James had asked Lily out.

"No Peter," Sirius was explaining "Remember the time that he fell off his broom while asking her out after he'd done an awesome move…ahhh good times……"

That left Lily with James.

"So Lily, how did your summer go?" James asked Lily.

"Fine, seeing that you weren't around," snapped Lily

"Ouch" said James "Man, I sure do have a thing for feisty ladies."

"Ugh Potter," said Lily "You'll never give up will you?"

"Nope!" said James with a smile on his face. "I know you have feelings for me somewhere in there."

"Yes Potter, I sure do have feelings for you; Right now I'm feeling I should take this broom and shove it up-"

"Lily, Lily, Lily," Said Sirius shaking his head "You're head girl and you're using fowl language? What a shame, what a shame."

"Well if this arro-" Lily said

"Wonderful, gorgeous, smart, talented- what were you saying?" said James interrupting Lily.

"Oh in my book Potter, you are none of those things, and what the bloody hell is up with people cutting me off today? It's like I can't even say a blasted sentence!" said Lily.

"Who said I was talking about me? I was merely just naming off some of **your** qualities." James said. Lily blushed. "Well, see you around Evans. Looks like its time for us to go." Said James

"Bye," said Lily rather rudely coming back to her senses.

"Bye love," said James

"Bye bye" said Sirius, and with that Sirius and James left taking Remus and peter with them on their way out.


	2. Poison or love?

Chap. 2

TY webling-girl 05 you were my first reviewer!

"So guys, what pranks are we gunna pull on the slytherins this year?" James asked. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were staying at his house for a week until school started.

"Hmm," said Sirius deep in thought.

"Maybe we should write them love letters like we did in fourth year." Peter said, excitement showing in his face

"Hahaha…that was funny," said Sirius "Snivellus brought Narcissa flowers and everything." Remus looked at Sirius with disgust

"Oh c'mon Moony you have to agree it was funny," Sirius said to Remus

"Well, yes I suppose so, but we didn't have to embarrass him in front of the **whole** school," said Remus.

"No, no, no," James said shaking his head "That's old, and besides they would know it was us. We have to think of something new.

"But we've done everything," Peter said in an exasperated tone.

"WHAT?" said Sirius "Peter, we're the marauders remember? We can come up with anything!"

"Yeah!" said James with a determined voice "We can do anything we want to!" Remus just rolled his eyes.

"Right moony?" said Sirius.

"Uh huh," Remus said dryly

"So how'd your summer go Lily?" Casey asked

"Ugh! I hate Petunia!" Lily said

"What did she do this time?" Jade asked in an angry tone

"I just don't understand why she can't accept the fact that I'm a witch! I mean you'd think she would have gotten over it after seven years, but nooo; She has to be a stubborn prat!" said Lily

"I'm sorry Lily," said Casey "Just forget about her. She's probably just jealous anyway."

"You know, you should just use magic on her." Jade said

"Are you kidding me?" Lily looked at Jade like she was crazy "I would get expelled if I did that!"

"No. The first time you just get a warning. Remember how Sirius hexed his brother and he never got expelled?" Jade said

"Well I guess," said Lily "But still! I'm Head Girl. How do you think that would look on my record? 'Head Girl Gone Bad' it would be all over the papers!" By this time Casey and Jade were laughing.

"W-we know," said Casey still laughing

"That's the funny part," said Jade

"So what are we gunna do!" Peter said

"Uhhh," said James "I haven't gotten that far yet." The boys thought in silence for few moments.

"Aha!" said Sirius breaking the silence. "We should give Severous a poisonous potion!" James frowned as if he was pondering something.

"You're crazy! We are not poisoning Severous! You're joking right?" At the look on Sirius's face Remus went on "We would kill him! James please tell Padfoot we are not poisoning Severous." James looked at Remus with a mischievous look in his eyes. "JAMES?" yelled Remus "You aren't actually thinking about poisoning Snape right?"

"Well actually mate, I was just starting think it wasn't such a bad idea," said James with a huge grin on his face.

After Casey and Jade explained how their summers had gone Casey said, "Lily I really do think you should give James a chance this year." Lily stared at Casey, her mouth wide open.

"Well, I mean he's so sweet to you and-and it wouldn't hurt to give him a chance would it?" Casey said.

"Hurt?" demanded Lily "hurt? I would have to be the craziest person on this earth to go out with Potter. He's an arrogant, self-centered,-"

"Good for nothing jerk?" finished Jade "Yes, yes we know."

"Well I don't think he's a good for nothing jerk. He may be a little arrogant at times but-" said Casey

"At times? You mean twenty-four seven? He actually thinks that I'm going to start liking him! He's so full of himself!" said Lily

"You didn't let me finish!" said Casey

"Well no, because no matter what anybody says I'm never going to go out with Potter! And that's-that! I mean he asks me out all the time like- like it means nothing. Like I'm just another part of his daily routine! I just don't understand how he can be such a jerk!" said Lily, now very irritated.

"You don't understand," Casey said.

"Casey, it doesn't matter, if she doesn't want to go out with James then she's not going to," said Jade. Although she did agree with Casey she understood how Lily felt about it and thought that it was Lily's choice to make.

"Understand what?" Lily said to Casey completely ignoring Jade "You see the way he acts towards me!"

"Yes but, that's just his way of trying to get your attention. He doesn't know how to do it any other way. That's why he asks you out all the time and-"

"Casey," said Jade

"I'm sorry but I just think you should give him a chance, that's all," Casey said backing down once she realized how upset Lily had become.

"Well I don't think Potter deserves any chances so he's not about to get any!" Lily said.

"Remus! Remus! Stop! We were just kidding!" James yelled. Remus was now whacking Sirius and James upside their heads.

"We aren't actually going to kill Severous! What kind of people do you think we are?" demanded James as Remus slowly stopped whacking him and Sirius.

"See!" said Remus "I knew I could whack some sense into you nutters!"

"Yeah well, you didn't have to whack so hard," said Sirius rubbing the back of his head. "What are you laughing at!" Sirius said to Peter.

Peter stopped laughing abruptly.

"Uhh…nothing," Peter said

"That's right! You better not be!" said Sirius "Remus could have ruined my o-so-beautiful face."

"Pshh," said James as he started cracking up with laughter.

"C'mon guys," said James as he kicked two first graders out of a compartment "here's an empty compartment." The four boys chuckled as they dropped down in seats, throwing their belongings in all directions. It was September first, the day in which all kids who attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft an Wizardry board a train that take them to the school.

"Everybody settle down and find a compartment," the boys heard Lily Evans say.

"Oh, that reminds me," said James "I have to go to the head compartment. I'll be back later." James, being Head Boy, was entrusted with a number of duties. He put on his Head Boy badge and left the compartment.

"Here, let me help you," James said to Lily

"C'mon stupid kids! Hurry up and sit down in a bloody compartment before I go over there and help you get into one! Trust me…it won't be pretty," James yelled at the top of his lungs. A couple of first and second years that were standing near James dashed into the nearest compartment they could find. The rest of the students moaned and groaned, but quickly stopped their chatting and found a compartment.

"Potter!" Lily scolded "I could write you up for that you know."

"Well I did the job for you, didn't I?" said James. Lily was silent for a moment.

"Yeah well, I didn't ask for your help. I'm Head Girl, I think I can take care of it by myself, thank-you very much! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the head compartment," Lily said.

"What a coincidence. So do I, so we can go together." James said playing with Lily. He knew that Lily had no idea that he was Head Boy.

"Potter, only prefects and Head Boy and Girl go to that compartment."

"Exactly!" James said with a smile pointing to his Head Boy badge on his chest.

Lily's eyes went wide in amazement as she read the badge: HEAD BOY – James Potter of Gryffindor.

"What?" said Lily "You cannot be Head Boy."

"Is that such a surprise to you?" said James

"Dumbledore must have gone crazy! No sane person would make YOU head boy! I can't believe this!" Said Lily

"Well, I am. So ya better believe it Evans," James said coolly as he walked off towards the head compartment.

"Hey," Sirius said as James climbed back into the boys compartment.

"How did it go?" asked Remus.

"It was alright. I gave Lily quite a shock when she found out I was Head Boy," James chuckled as Lily's shocked face reappeared in his head. The boys bought a number of sweets. In fact, they bought so many treats that they couldn't even eat them all; and that's saying something. They chatted for hours, sometimes laughing at each others jokes, or remembering comical things they had done in the past.

"Speaking of pranks," said Sirius "We never came up with any pranks to pull. We have to at least come up with one prank to start off the year for now."

"Oh yeah," said James

"I thought we were gunna give Snivellous a love potion….or maybe it was a poisonous potion," said Peter

"Haha, you twit," said Sirius

"Wait! That's just it!" said James.

Just then their compartment door slid open.

"What were you guys talking about?" Lily asked

Oh, nothing," Sirius said. Lily eyed them suspiciously.

"Well, we are about to get there, so James we have to instruct everyone as to where they need to go and everything," said Lily

"Alright, I'll be right out on a second," said James. He quickly put on his robes and hurried after Lily.


	3. Just Still and Perfect

The reason this has an HBP warning is because I used acreature fromHBP.Please review. Chapter four should be up before long.

"First years, follow me!" yelled Lily. James and Lily were leading the first years to the lake that they crossed to get to Hogwarts every year. The rest of the students took carriages.

"Hello there fellers," said Hagrid the gamekeeper as they approached with the first years behind them. "You fir's years will be cross'n this lake here," said Hagrid. The first years looked at Hagrid with fear and shock on their faces. "Oh don't worry," Hagrid said to the first years, "Me, Lily, and good o'l James here will be with you."

"Uh, no Hagrid, James and I take a carriage to Hogwarts," said Lily

"Nope, Not this year," said Hagrid "Dumbledore specifically said that he wanted you two to come with me. He wants as much security as he can get, and he thought this would be a good idea," said Hagrid.

"W-What," said James "Are you telling me that we have to go through that lake again?"

"Oh c'mon it's not that bad. Now hurry up and get into a boat." Said Hagrid

"Ladies first," said James gesturing for Lily to get into the boat with his hands.

"Everybody in a boat?" yelled Hagrid "Alright, Lily n' James you two take the back and I'll be in the front. FORWARD!" All the boats started towards Hogwarts.

"I can't believe we have to be out here in this boat getting all wet while our friends get to be nice and dry in their little carriages," said James realizing that the bottom of his and Lily's robes were drenched in water due to the water at the bottom of their boat.

"Well I can't believe that I'm stuck here with you," said Lily "I still find it hard to believe that you're Head Boy."

"Lily, Lily, Lily," said James shaking his head "Dumbledore would have to be crazy NOT to make me Head Boy. I mean, I'm a genius!" said James ruffling up his hair in a conceited manner.

"You're so full of it Potter!" said Lily although she could not deny the fact that he was a genius. Every year Lily and James had been the top of their class, always receiving top marks. No matter how hard Lily tried she could never outsmart James Potter. Lily didn't know how James did it; he never even lifted a book nonetheless read it. Lily on the other hand could always be found in the library researching or furiously working on an assignment days in advance.

"What was that?" James asked

"What was what?" said Lily

"I saw something moving in the water. There's something in there."

"Oh Potter, come off it! You're not going to scare me," said Lily.

"No seriously, there's something in there."

"Oh really?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Look. There it goes again," said James pointing to a spot in the lake behind Lily. Lily turned around and saw nothing. Surely James was just playing another one of his stupid pranks on her. If something was really there she would have at least seen ripples or some kind of movement in the water. She was determined not to fall for his lousy prank.

"You're such a prat. There is nothing there. Now can you please get over yourself and start acting like Head Boy?" said Lily

"Are you kidding me? I can't believe you! There is something in there, you just looked too late," said James.

"Okay. Whatever you say," said Lily, and she rolled her eyes at him before turning around. Just then they arrived at the dock. Most of the first years were already out of their boats. They had no desire to stay in the lake any longer.

"Alrigh' there guys?" asked Hargid as he helped Lily out of the boat.

"Yea, we're fine. James is just seeing a thing, that's all," said Lily. Hagrid

frowned. "Oh don't worry, he's always been a little off his rocker," said Lily.

"Hey!" said James defensively

"Well...Err…I'll be taking these fir's years ter McGonagall. Can you two secure these boats to the dock fer me?" asked Hagrid.

"Sure thing Hagrid," said James standing upright, apparently very proud of himself for being entrusted with this responsibility. Lily nodded her head.

Lily and James were each standing in a different boat securing it to the dock. The carriages with the rest of the students still had not arrived. The atmosphere was a quiet, dark one. It was very black outside except for a torch that shone some distance away, and they were alone. Neither Lily nor James spoke not wanting to disrupt the eerie atmosphere. It was almost as if they were out of place. All of a sudden a paranoid feeling swept over Lily.

"_Something doesn't feel right," _thought Lily "_I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here."_ Just as she was thinking this she felt an arm brush her own left arm. Lily flinched slightly, but did not turn to see what it was. She knew it was James. A couple seconds later she felt the same thing rub her arm and then take firm hold of it. Something felt odd about the arm this time though.

"_That doesn't feel like Potters' arm." _Though Lily.

"P-potter?" said Lily, her voice higher pitched than usual. She stopped tying a knot in the rope of the boat and turned to see the most horrid thing that walked the Earth.

"_What now?"_ thought James. He turned around and realized that he and Lily were no longer alone. "Oh holy shit!" said James taking less than a second to whip out his wand. Lily struggled to escape the grasp of the creature that she knew was called an inferi. It's pale face stood out from the darkness, and it's solid black eyes captured Lily's. Staring into these eyes she saw death starring right back at her. She knew it wouldn't be long before she was dragged under water and lead straight to her death.

"Petrificus totallus!" yelled James firing a spell at the creature. The inferi stumbled backwards, wavered for a moment, and then fell into the depths of the water. Lily coming back to her senses could not believe how slowly she had reacted when it had taken James about a second to whip out his wand and fire a spell at the inferi. She didn't have much time to scold herself though, because no longer had the inferi fallen into the water than another one's pale, limp body emerged from the surface of the water. It grabbed hold of James' boat making it tip over, but James was too fast. Just before the boat completely flipped over James leaped to Lily's.

"Incarcerous!" yelled Lily. The second inferi was bound by ropes and it too fell into the water, but the first inferi and several more were coming towards Lily and James. Lily and James were firing spells like crazy.

"Impedimenta!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

An inferi grabbed hold of Lily from behind and gave her a jerk causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor of the boat. It took hold of her leg and pulled her into the water. Another inferi helped take her under the water.

"James!" Lily screamed

"NO!" yelled James. _"Not her! Not Lily! I love her!" _Anger arose in James. His heart pounded furiously. He no longer cared about his life. That didn't matter anymore. All that mattered to him was Lily.

"Argh!" James lunged at the two inferi landing violently upon them just as they managed to get Lily's lower half under water. They immediately let go of Lily, and she struggled to get back onto the boat. James threw punches and thrashed his body about in a violent manner making it very difficult for the inferi to take him under. Lily knew James could not hold up any longer though, and she was not going to sit there and watch him die. She looked around desperately and then she saw it; the light. Of course! In a moment Lily had a fire going from the tip of her wand. The inferi, being afraid of fire, dived into the water leaving their prey behind.

Lily helped James clamber back onto the boat. He stood up and shook his head shaking the water out of his messy hair, letting it sway about.

"_He looks just like a prince"_ thought Lily.

"I thought I'd lost you for a second there," said James his voice very serious. "But I would never let anything happen to you." He pulled Lily to his chest embracing her. His confident touch swept away all of Lily's fearful feelings and calmed her. Inside she wanted nothing more than to hold onto him forever. She loved the way he held her close to him, and the way he calmed her without saying anything. She held him tighter than ever afraid once she let go everything would go back to normal. He lowered his head and planted a soft kiss gently upon her lips. It seemed as if time had stopped just for this perfect moment as their lips were intertwined. It was sweet, gentle, and compassionate. It was as if the world was revolving without them, leaving them still and perfect. Just still and perfect.

"_Nothing can be better than this,"_ thought Lily and James.


	4. First Day of School

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own any of it. It's all J.K's.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed my story! Sorry I took so long to update. I will try to update sooner next time. I saw the 4th Harry Potter movie and I loved it, but it did skip some important parts. Anyways this is a long chapter so you better start reading. Please review!

* * *

"James!"

"Jamesies!

"What happened?"

James had taken no more than three steps into the great hall when a pack of Gryffindor girls surrounded him.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, you poor thing."

"That must have been terrible," said one of the girls while stroking James's hair.

"You're so brave."

"C'mon break it up ladies. Is the bloke really worth it?" said Sirius pushing his way through the mob of girls. "I myself was half hoping Lily would leave him to the monsters. We'd be better off without him don't you think Remus?"

"Truly," Remus replied although he looked thoroughly relieved to see James all in one piece.

"Hey James." said Peter joining the group. He scrunched up his face as if trying to remember something. "Where were you again?"

"Well I'm glad to see that I'm so loved," said James.

Remus chuckled at this. "Where is Lily?" He knew Lily must be alright by the smile on James' face.

"She is fine. She was really tired after that whole ordeal, so after Madam Pomfrey insisted on cleaning a few of her cuts she went up to bed."

"I'm so glad you guys are alright. Everyone was really worried," Remus said.

"I wasn't worried!" said Sirius.

"Ha! James, he was worried out of his mind…kept rambling on about what we would do if you didn't make it out alive, and how you were such a good friend… he practically went into a panic attack!" said Remus.

"I most certainly did not!" Sirius retorted

"Oh yeah, now I remember McGonagall saying something about…hmm … what was it…?" Peter asked.

"Inferius," Remus provided, "A corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark wizard's spell," he finished smartly.

Peter unconsciously dropped the piece of toast he was holding in his hand onto the floor and gave James a huge hug. "You're alive!" he shouted with joy. Peter took a step back and observed James slowly letting everything sink in. "How'd you do it?"

The large crowd suddenly grew silent, clearly wondering the same thing. James looked around; there was not one pair of eyes that weren't focused on him. They were all looking at him intently with curious faces.

"Well…I heard Lily say my name and when I turned around there was a bloody Inferius right in front of her! It grabbed a hold of her but then I…." As James retold the story he realized that the crowd was taking in every word that he said not doubting him for a second, and sure enough the course of the story began to change,"……..and then the dragon sent a fire ball at me! But of course I deflected it and sent it ……..next thing I knew the giant was swinging Lily around like she was a doll, so I fired this really sophisticated spell at the giant and-"

"James, do you even know how to spell sophisticated?" Jade asked. Jade and Casey had become pretty tired of hearing James rant on about dragons and giants. They didn't believe a single word that was coming out of his mouth.

"Yes!"

"Then spell it," Casey said

"S- O-umm-F-I-K-T-E-D" James said. The two girls, Remus, and Sirius burst out laughing.

"Hey! It's been a long night, and besides you are interrupting my story," said James childishly.

"So where was I…ahh yes, the giant…"

* * *

(Morning of the first day of school)

WHAM!

"Mr. Potter!" barked McGonagall.

James groaned.

"Next time you decide to run into a wall at top speed I advise you to wear proper gear," she said eying him curiously. "Is there a reason you are running like a maniac without watching where you are going?" she asked.

"They've gone nutters!" James exclaimed, but before he could explain further, a group of about four 6th year girls came skipping towards him.

James groaned again. "Bloody hell."

"I wanna ask him!" one of the girls said.

"No, you already did."

"So, he probably changed his mind."

"No, let me ask!" a third girl said.

"He's going to say no to you, so I should ask him. He'll surely say yes to me."

"Ugh!" the third girl said accompanied by a string of swear words.

"Mr. Potter, get a grip on your self," professor McGonagall said walking away

"Wait! Aren't you going to give them detention or something?" James asked desperately. Professor McGonagall didn't even answer him but instead just shook her head and walked away.

"He likes me."

"How do you know?"

"Because he tripped me in the hall when we were chasing after him."

"Nuh uh. He tripped me!"

"Yes because tripping people clearly means, I love you," Jade said sarcastically as she, Lily, and Casey walked past the group on their way to the Great Hall.

"A little help here guys?" James pleaded.

"Nah, I think I'll let you handle this demon on your own," Lily said. She winked at him as she and her friends continued to the Great Hall.

"WILL YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND?" one of the girls finally blurted out.

"No be mine!"

"No mine!"

"No No NO! I don't want to go out with any of you! And besides… your pants are unzipped," he said to none of the girls in particular. As planned by James, all four girls checked to see if their zippers were down, even though they were all wearing skirts, while he fled the scene chuckling to him self all the while.

* * *

"Hey guys," said Julia when the three girls sat down at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Julia was their roommate. "I'm really glad that you're okay. What you did is really amazing."

"Thanks. It wasn't just me though, James did mostly everything," said Lily

"I heard he saved your life." Julia said

"Yeah he did. It was a really brave and sweet thing to do," Lily said awkwardly. She wasn't used to complimenting James.

"Lily, are you sure those Inferius didn't do permanent damage?" Jade said. Lily hadn't told Casey and Jade about the kiss yet.

"Wow," Casey said.

"What?" Lily asked innocently.

"That must be the first time you've said sweet and James in the same sentence. Lily, you've just made history!" Casey said.

"I'm telling you, she's got permanent damage," said Jade.

"Oh c'mon you guys, I've said plenty of good things about James before," Lily said. Jade and Casey exchanged amused expressions with each other.

"Alright alright, I've never been quite fond of James, but I think he's starting to grow up some," said Lily.

"So now you are fond of James?" Jade winked. She shielded her self from the expected blow from Lily, but Lily only blushed. Casey gasped.

"So you DO like him?" Casey asked. Lily became even redder.

"Are you two going out?" both Jade and Casey asked at the same time.

Lily shook her head. Casey looked at her suspiciously.

"You snogged him didn't you!" Casey said in an almost accusing tone.

"No!"

"Lily, if there's one thing you're horrible at- it's lying." Jade said.

"I knew it!" Casey said proud of herself. "Oh my gosh! This calls for celebration!" she said excitedly.

"Celebration? You must be talking about me," said James sarcastically, sitting down beside Lily.

"Well, actually…" Jade said. Lily stomped on Jade's foot real hard.

"Hello ladies" said Sirius sitting down before James could say anything about the girls' strange behavior. Remus sat down next to Casey and Peter sat across from James.

"Hey guess what's coming up?" James asked.

"Quidditch tryouts." Jade said.

"You bet. They are going to be this Sunday." James said with a huge smile.

"Boy have I missed quidditch." said Jade.

"I know it," Sirius said.

There was a swooshing noise in the Great Hall.

"Mail time." Remus said. In a matter of seconds a rolled up Daily Prophet was dropped into his hands. Remus unrolled the parchment slowly, and the others tensed for fear that they would see a familiar face on the front page. There was never any good news on the front page anymore. Remus sighed in relief as he read the article on the front page.

"What's the news?" Lily asked

"Any attacks?" James asked.

"Fortunately not," Remus said.

"Do you guys think that the ministry is going to be able to stop this Voldemort guy? It's getting really serious, and I thought they would have caught him by now. We found about him at the end of last term," Casey said.

"Of course they will be able to stop him," James said, but he didn't say this with very much confidence.

"Hey James," Julia said breaking up the moment, "You did an awesome job on those monsters. I just can't believe you were able to defeat Inferius, dragons, and giants."

"Dragons and giants?" Lily asked.

"Yea, James told me about it. Ill see you guys later, I have to go to class," said Julia.

"James!" Lily said.

"Did you hear that? I think it was the bell. Gotta go," James said very quickly hopping out of his seat.

"Do not walk away from me!" Lily said, hurrying after him.

"They are so meant to be," said Jade laughing at them.

* * *

"Hey Lily," said James joining her on the way to potion class.

"Hey," Lily said

"How has your first day of school been?"

"Great!" Lily said, "Although, it is kind of strange since people keep congratulating me on vanquishing inferius, dragons, and giants!"

"Inferius just seemed so…boring," James said. Lily couldn't help laughing.

"I would like to have seen you say it was boring when they were dragging us under water!" Lily said. James smiled at her.

"How would you like to do something with me tonight?"

"You mean like a date?" Lily asked

"Yea something like that," James grinned. "I want to show you something."

"I would love to."

"Fantastic," James said just as they entered the potions classroom.

* * *

No matter how hard Lily tried to focus on freezing spells, ancient plants, and healing potions, the only thing that would come to her mind was James.

_"We're going on a date! I hope he'll ask me to be his girlfriend!" _Lily thought.

"Lily," said Casey warningly

_"I like him so much. I really do hope he has grown up." _

"Lily," Casey said again

_"He is immature, but I love him. I love everything about him: the way he smiles, the dimples in his check, he is so smart, when he's thinking he cocks his head to one side, and-" _

"Lily! No! Don't put that in there!" Casey yelled

"Huh? What?" said Lily just as she dropped toad legs into her potion.

"Oh no," gasped Casey grabbing Lily by the arm and rearing away from the potion.

"You put the toad legs in before the sage."

Casey, Jade, and Lily watched as Lily's potion turned a deep shade of purple, started to sizzle, and then erupted showering purple gunk over three Hugglepuffs; three Hugglepuffs who were now very upset not to mention soaking in purple gunk.

The second time Lily attempted to make a healing potion she miraculously managed to finish it with an acceptable outcome. As she walked to Professor Curt's desk to turn it in, Severus Snape _"accidentally" _stuck his foot out just as she was passing by which of course made Lily stumble and sent the potion flying shattering on none other than professor Curt himself.

"EVANS!" the professor roared. A rash was spreading rapidly all over his body.

"Professor I-"

"I will NOT tolerate this kind of behavior in my classroom!"

"But Severus- I-"

"Oh so you think it's funny to play a little prank and then blame it on a fellow classmate?" snapped Professor Curt.

"No! Of course not!" Lily cried desperately

"Detention Evans and ten points from Gryffindor! Learn to take responsibility for your actions. Gryffindors are supposed to be brave wizards not cowards, but … I suppose there's always an exception in the bunch. Class dismissed! Oh and Evans clean up this mess."

_"Just my luck! I have to spend my free period cleaning up a mess that's not even my fault. I can't believe I have detention. I never have detention, and today is the first day of school, and I'm Head Girl. I can't get detention when I'm Head Girl. _

While Lily cleaned up the mess she thought of James, and her mood brightened.

_"He does seem like he has matured. Over the summer he didn't send me one letter asking me to go out with him, and the way he handled those Inferius yesterday; I think he is starting to grow up, but it's only the first day of school. What if he starts acting up again?"_

* * *

"Did you see what Severus did?" James asked Peter, Remus, and Sirius once they were all out of the potions classroom.

"Sure did," Sirius said.

"I say we get the idiot," James said, "He got her a detention!"

"James, Lily is not going to like this," Remus said.

"Lily and I are on good terms right now, and besides it's not like I'm doing this for no good reason."

"Good terms?" Remus asked.

"Yea, but I don't have time to explain. We have a Slytherin to get." The four boys ran to their dormitory.

"I think I have some stuff we might be able to use for a prank in here from last year," Peter said opening his trunk.

"Great!" James said, his mind already soaring with wild ideas.

"James, are you sure you want to do this?" Remus asked.

"Of course he's sure. A marauder can never pass up the chance to take part in a prank," Sirius said.

"Exactly," James said, "besides I told you Lily and I are on good terms" he winked. Remus rolled his eyes and sighed; it was no use.

"I think I got something!" Peter said yanking fiercely at an item in his luggage.

It was buried under a large pile of Peter's belongings and was caught onto something. It looked like a bag. Peter pulled the bag with so much force that he fell over on his backside.

"Open it," said Sirius. Peter reached his hand into the bag and grabbed hold of something. When he pulled it out the boys all said, "YUCK!"

"UGH! How long have you had that thing?" James asked. Peter had pulled out a sandwich that had accumulated a years worth of mold.

"I don't want to know," Peter said holding the sandwich out at a distance with one hand and holding his nose with the other.

"That thing is deadly," Sirius said.

"Evanesco," Remus said with a swish of his wand and the sandwich vanished from Peters grasp.

"Thank god. It was almost as ugly as James' face," said Sirius.

Peter continued to search through his belongings, littering the floor with robes, books, candy wrappers, and clothing.

"Ow!" Sirius yelled. Peter occasionally nailed one of his friends in the head with one of his belongings while searching through his trunk.

"When's the next full moon moony?" James asked.

"It's this Friday," said Remus gloomily.

"Yes! I can't wait!" said Sirius completely forgetting that Peter had just smacked him in the head.

Remus shot Sirius a look of pure disgust.

"I mean- Yes! I can't wait for it to uhh…pass!...so you can get it out of the way," Sirius said with an innocent smile. Remus shook his head at Sirius, but then he remembered something he didn't quite want to think about.

"Blimey," he said.

"What?" James asked.

"Well, I never told Casey the minor fact that she's dating a werewolf," Remus said. "I've kinda been putting it off since last year," Remus shrugged.

"You're going to tell her?" Peter asked incredulously.

"Don't you think I should?" Remus asked.

"Of course not!" Peter said.

"What do you guys think?" Peter said gesturing to James and Sirius.

"Well mate," Sirius said, "women are bloody hard to figure out. Do u remember Brenda from last year? She asked me to go to Hogsmeade with her and I only agreed because I was being nice. I didn't even like her, and then when I didn't spend the day with her she got mad at me! Can you believe that? I was doing her a favor by saying yes. You do one nice thing for them and then they go all ballistic on you," Sirius said shaking his head.

"Sirius, remind me not ask you for advice on girls ever again," Remus said.

"What did I say wrong?" Sirius asked

James shrugged. "Don't ask me; I've been taking your advice since third year."

"My point exactly," Remus said, but before James could say anything back somebody knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Sirius asked.

"We're looking for James," said a girl's voice. James recognized it as one of the girls that were chasing him this morning. He heard giggles.

"No not them again," James whispered so only his friends could hear him.

"James we know you're in there. Let us in," one of the girls said.

"Uh, James isn't here," James said in a deep voice.

"You're afraid of girls now?" Sirius whispered to James. Sirius opened the door and let the girls file in, watching them intently. Some of the girls began to sit down and make them selves at home.

"You guys should leave. We have some things we need to do," James said.

"Leave? But we were just getting comfortable"

"Yea Prongs don't be a party pooper," Sirius said.

"I'll be in the common room," Remus said. He took a book with him and walked out.

Sirius began to chat with the girls, but he soon became bored of talking to them because the only thing they liked to talk about were the latest fashions, make up, and that sort of thing. They also did not like quidditch, so Sirius could not even stand to talk to them. They wouldn't stop talking though, and they would never take a hint to leave. Sirius looked down and saw the bottle that Peter had hit him with earlier. He picked it up and read: _Do you want revenge on somebody? Then Icky Stickeys are the right thing for you. They will annoy your victim for about five minutes, but the mess they leave behind will put your victim through major humiliation for one whole hour. Icky stickeys cannot be vanquished by any spell nor can their aftermath be removed by a spell, so choose your victims well._

"I think I'm going to go join Remus," James said, and he hopped up to leave.

"Oh no you don't," Sirius said and then he mouthed, "_Watch this."_

"Do you girls want any drinks? We've got butterbeer to go all around," Sirius said.

James rolled his eyes and slumped up against the wall.

"Sure," the girls said.

Four cans of butterbeer came zooming towards them.

"Ill opens those for you," Sirius said with an unusually cheerful voice. With a swish and a flick of his wand he opened the four cans and spilled the contents all over the four girls.

"EWWW!"

"Gross!"

The girls stood up in a fury and left. They practically stampeded out of the room. James could not contain his laughter. He was laughing so hard he was turning blue from lack of oxygen.

"Good one mate!" Peter said as he gave Sirius a high five.

"I got them so good! And look what I found!" Sirius said holding up the bottle of "Icky stickeys".

* * *

"What did you guys do to the poor girls?" Remus asked Sirius, James, and Peter when they entered the common room with big grins on their faces.

"They were soaking wet!" Casey said who was sitting next to Remus, and across from Jade.

"Sirius poured a can of butterbeer all over each of them!" James said, "And they deserve it too."

Jade began to laugh hysterically.

"What could four fifth year girls have possibly done to you?" Jade asked.

"They asked him out," Sirius said.

"So you poured butterbeer all over them?" Casey asked.

"Wow James, that's really impressive," Jade said.

"Trust me you would be scared of them too," James said.

Everyone laughed.

"Ahh well, a little fun wouldn't hurt once in a while now would it?" Jade asked.

"Exactly," Sirius said.

"Sorry but we have to run. We have some unfinished business. C'mon Remus," James said.

* * *

"Okay, according to the Marauders Map Snape is just leaving the Slytherin common room," Sirius said.

"Perfect. Then we will have no trouble cornering him," James said. The four boys took many twists and turns throughout the castle before they reached they're destination point.

After the boys got into position they heard someone coming. James jumped out with his wand at the attack and everything.

"Oh …hey James," said Jackie, a 5th year Ravenclaw, surprised. "What're you doing?" She asked referring to the fact that he had jumped out at her with his wand ready to attack. "Did you think I was going to be an Inferius or something?" she said laughing at him.

"Well actually I did," James said straightening up, "Dumbledore sent me on a mission to kill an Inferius that was seen around this part of the school, so if you would please tell your friends not to come this way I would appreciate it very much."

"Are you serious!"

"Do you think I would lie about something this serious?"

"Oh my gosh," she said running away.

The boys hid again and soon enough a tall boy with black greasy hair came walking down the corridor. When he was in the middle of the hall way his body was suddenly jerked upward into the air.

"Hey there Snivelly. How was your summer? Bet you missed us." Sirius said. Severus let out a string of swear words.

"Well that's too bad, because we sure missed you," James said swishing his wand upwards which in turn made Severus do a variation of pirouette.

"Practicing for the ballet are you Snivelly?" Sirius asked. Severus glared at Sirius.

"Put me down you blood traitors!" Severus yelled.

"Well if you insist," James said, and he let Severus fall to the stone cold ground.

"Peter open it," Sirius said.

Peter opened the bottle that Sirius had found in their dormitory and out jumped ten little creatures that were each about half a foot tall. He whispered "Severus" to them and they immediately began to attack Severus. He furiously tried to swat them away, but he had no success. The creatures spat in his hair, only their spit very closely resembled pink sticky tack, and did not look easily removable. Sirius and James laughed at Snape's vain attempts to rid the stickeys.

* * *

Lily finished cleaning up the mess that she had made in potions class. On her way to the Gryffindor common room she heard voices. She followed them until she saw Remus standing at the end of the corridor where the noise was coming from. She could hear James' voice.

"Lily, you don't want to go over there," Remus said gesturing to the corridor that the other boys were in.

"What is James doing?" Lily asked him.

"It's uh… nothing," Remus said, but just then Lily heard Snape's voice loud and clear. She turned the corner to look. She saw Snape being attacked by little pink creatures, and James and Sirius were taunting him. When Lily turned back to Remus he could tell she was furious.

"Lily, please don't get mad at him. He likes you a lot," Remus pleaded.

"If he likes me so much then why is he doing this? He knows I hate it when he messes with other people!"

"He doesn't mean to hurt you Lily," Remus said.

"Well I don't care, he should think about that before he goes off and does things like this. I thought he was better than that this year!"

"I'm sorry," Remus said.

* * *

"Can we go now?" Remus asked. "I think he's had enough torment for one day."

"Alright," James said.

Sirius put on a sad face.

"Don't worry mate- we still get to watch him be humiliated in Defense Against the Dark Art," James said.

"Oh yeah!" Sirius said excitedly.

"The mess lasts for an hour," James said.

_"Oh no," _Remus thought, "_Lily will never forgive him now!"_

* * *

Lily stalked into Defense Against Dark Arts.

"Is everything alright?" Casey asked.

Lily violently threw her bag down onto the floor, plopped down into a seat next to Casey, and took big breath.

"I'm fine." Lily said stubbornly.

"Oh c'mon Lily, do you really think we're going to let you off that easy?" Jade said leaning forward so she could see Lily around Casey.

"I'm okay, really," Lily said.

"Is this about the detention you got?" Casey asked.

"No. Look," Lily said pointing to the door of the classroom, "You're about to find out why I'm mad."

Just then Severus walked into the classroom and the class erupted into a fit of laughter. His hair was filled with pink goo, and it was apparent that the mess could not be removed by any spell because it looked as if he had tried to cut out some of the goo with scissors. Tufts of hair were sticking out all over the place.

"Class, settle down please," said the professor. He paused for a moment letting the class quiet down. "Hello, I am Professor Rupin Chase; your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Today we are going to review dueling tactics." Close to the end of the class the professor asked, "Could I have two volunteers who would like to duel?"

James immediately shot his hand into the air.

"Alright then. Would anyone else like to join Mr. Potter?" Nobody raised their hands.

"In that case, Lily, why don't you duel him. This way it will be Head Girl and Boy."

As Lily bowed to James she gave him the coldest look she could muster.

"On the count of three," said Professor Chase, "One…two…three!"

Lily whipped around and yelled, "Avis!" A flock of birds started to attack James. A few seconds later James was lifted off the ground and thrown against the cold stone floor.

"What did he ever do to you, huh? What do you get out of messing with people for fun? Why can't you just grow up?" James got onto his feet while dodging a number of spells from Lily, but never once firing one at her.

"Is this about him!" James asked pointing at Severus.

"No James! This isn't about him. It's about you! You are so immature!"

"How can you stand up for him when he just got you a detention? I was just taking up for you!"

"Oh were you? Well I can take care of myself!"

"CLASS DISMISSED! Potter and Evans take your arguments outside my classroom in the future! I want each of you to write an essay on the proper way to duel by next class. Is that understood!" yelled professor Chase.

"Yes sir," said Lily and James in unison. They were both furious. They threw their backpacks onto their backs. As Lily began to stomp out of the classroom James didn't want to let her go. He liked her so much. He took a deep breath, "Lily, wait…,"he said grabbing her by the wrist.

"Wait for what? I'm tired of waiting for you James. I'm tired of waiting for you to grow up. There was nothing between us and their never will be," she yanked her wrist out of his grasp and left.

* * *

Once Lily left the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom she just started running, not paying attention to anything or anyone around her. She ran and ran. She stopped running when she reached the lakes edge. She began to break out in tears-collapsing emotionally. She cried there alone for a couple minutes feeling a mixture of sadness, anger, and regret. Then Lily heard somebody coming to join her. She didn't look up, but instead kept her head cradled in her hands. She felt someone sit on either side of her.

"Lily, we're here for you," Casey said. Lily didn't say anything for a moment.

"I just thought," Lily stumbled over her words, "I just thought that he had changed. With this whole Inferius thing, and it's the first day of school and it just felt so rushed and, and I'm just so mixed up."

"Lily its okay," Casey said; her voice sweet and comforting, "People do change sometimes. You didn't do anything wrong in thinking that he did."

"Yea, but this is James we are talking about here. He will always be an immature little git," Lily said.

"Lily it's okay. I thought the little nutcase had grown up too when Dumbledore made him Head Boy," Jade said. Lily smiled.

"There that's much better," Casey said.

"Why don't you tell us everything that happened between you and meanie James in the last two days, starting with the Inferius, and you will feel much better," Jade said.

"Okay," Lily said.

"Wait. You always need hot coco for a good story," said Jade and she transfigured three pieces of tree bark into three cups of hot coco.

"Is this safe to drink?" Lily asked skeptically.

"Who gives a heck," said Jade, and she took a swallow. Lily and Casey laughed at Jade. Lily felt so good to have her friends. She retold the story starting with the Inferius, and ending at the beginning of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"…and you guys know the rest from there," Lily finished.

"Now don't you feel better?" Jade asked.

"Yea," Lily answered, and indeed she did, "Thanks you guys."

"You don't need to thank us. What kind of friends would we be if we just left you here to cry your poor little heart out?" Jade asked.

"My heart? If you are suggesting that that little prat James broke my heart, then you are certainly mistaken," Lily said.

"YAY!" Casey cried out, "We have our Lily back!"

Jade just laughed, and Casey hugged Lily.

"Wow. It's pretty late. We'd better get going," Lily said.

Lily was the first one dressed and into bed. She was absorbed in her thoughts.

_"I guess James and I just aren't meant to be,"_ she thought.

_"You know you still like him,"_ said another voice in Lily's head.

_"I do not. O gosh, stop thinking about him."_ Lily thought. Then the memory of her kissing James flashed through her head.

Smack!

Jade had just hit Lily over the head with a pillow.

"What are you thinking about?" Jade asked.

"I'm thinking about how good I'm about to get you!" Lily said jumping out of bed and smacking Jade with her own pillow.

"I wanna join in!" Casey said. The three girls proceeded to laugh and play like third years until they each collapsed into a deep happy sleep.

_"It's so good to be back at home," _thought Lily happily.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please review. I really want your input!


	5. Full Moons and Slytherins

Disclaimer: I wish I had a brilliant mind like J.K.'s and could tell you that I came up with all this, but unfortunately only the plot is mine.

A/N: I know. I know! I'm a terrible person for taking forever to update, but the good news is that the sixth chapter is finished. Aren't you proud of me! I'm just waiting for a couple good reviews to post it…hehehe. Only joking. I'll post it in about a week. Well start reading. Hope you like it!

* * *

James sat in the common room nervously waiting for Lily. She hadn't spoken to him since they'd had a fight in Defense Against the Dark Arts a few days ago. Tonight they were about to patrol the school, and James wasn't feeling too good about it.

"_She must hate me now," _James thought_, "Everything I do or say is all wrong. Well not tonight. Tonight's going to be different. I won't say anything. Ill just keep my mouth shut the whole night, and if she brings up the fight I'll just say that I'm sorry and admit that I'm a jerk for messing with Severus."_

James heard someone coming. He looked up to see Lily trotting down the steps of the stairs leading down from the girls' dormitory. James noticed that she didn't seem to be worried about patrolling with him at all. She looked as confident as ever. If she felt like that then why was he so nervous? He was even afraid his legs might collapse if he tried standing up. Lily was the only girl who had that effect on him.

"Well are you coming yet?" Lily asked a bit impatiently. She was looking back at him with one leg already through the portrait hole.

"Yeah," James said. He took a deep breath and followed Lily.

"So where do you want to patrol next?" Lily asked James. He'd been quiet the

whole night only opening his mouth to say "yes", "no" and that sort of superficial thing.

"I think we've checked everywhere." James said

"Are you sure?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm going to go to bed."

"Oh," is all Lily managed to say.

"_What happened to the old James?" _she thought_, "the fun, annoying, exciting James. The one who always pulls pranks on me, and makes fun of me…it's my fault he's acting like this."_

"Good night," he said.

"Wait," Lily said impulsively.

James turned around and looked at Lily, begging her silently to let him go. She was making this so hard for him. Couldn't she see that?

Lily didn't know what to say to James. She didn't have a good reason for him not to go. In fact, she didn't even know why she wanted him to stay.

"You're going to be with Remus on the full moon tomorrow night right?" she asked trying to start conversation.

"Yeah," was all he answered, "See you tomorrow Lily."

"Bye," she almost whispered as she watched him disappear into the darkness.

* * *

"Hey Lily," Remus said when Lily entered the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey Remus," she said, "What are you doing up so late?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing missy."

"I just got back from patrolling."

"Oh yeah. Sirius said you caught him nicking food from the kitchens."

Lily laughed and sat down on the couch across from him. "He was shoving food down his throat like he hadn't eaten in years," she said.

"That's Sirius for you," he said, "So how was patrolling other than that?"

"Well…," she replied unsure of how to answer.

"It's probably just because it was your first time," Remus said but he knew that it had something to do with James. James had come back from patrolling in a sulky mood.

"How are things with you and Casey?" Lily asked wanting to change the subject.

"Great!" Remus said perking up, but then his face suddenly turned to a worried frown.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked

"Well it's just there's a full moon tomorrow night, and I think it's time that I tell Casey I'm a werewolf but...but," he trailed off at a loss for words.

"but you're afraid that if you tell her she won't accept you," Lily finished.

"Right," Remus said looking down.

"Remus of course she will!"

"You don't know that. It wouldn't be the first time someone I trusted has turned against me. I wouldn't blame her either. I'm dangerous Lily. It's hard for people to accept creatures like me."

"First off, don't calling yourself a creature-"

"But-"

"I'm not finished. Second you have three friends that care for you so much that they risk their lives for you every full moon. They don't care about the fact that you're a werewolf; and neither do I! So what makes you think that Casey will care either?"

"I dunno," Remus shrugged.

Lily stood up and took a seat beside Remus. She looked into his eyes. They were so innocent and so pure that Lily wondered how anyone could possibly discriminate against him. "Remus, you're such a great guy. Anyone could see that. Casey is so caring, and I know for a fact that she won't judge you because of you're condition."

"You think so?" he asked her desperately.

"I know so," she said smiling at him with that cherubic smile of hers.

"So I should tell her?"

"Definitely."

"Okay, I will. I guess you're right. I'm sure it'll be fine," he said although he looked extremely anxious about the whole thing.

"Don't worry, It will."

"Let's hope so. Well, I'm really tired so I think I'm going to go up to bed. Thanks for all the advice."

"Don't worry about it," she said humbly.

"Its better advice than any of my friends could have ever given me."

"Well if you compare me to them!" she said jokingly.

They both laughed.

"Good night Lily."

"Night," she said as he left the room, but in a second he was right back.

"Oh and Lily?"

"Yeah?"

"Give James a chance," he said quickly before he hurried up the staircase so that she wouldn't have a chance to respond.

"_I did,"_ she thought, "_and he blew it._"

* * *

"Are you done eating yet Peter?" James asked.

"This is my last chocolate éclair. I promise," Peter answered.

"That's what you said last time!" Sirius protested.

"But last time I didn't actually mean it. So it doesn't really count."

"Then how do we know you mean it this time?" Sirius interrogated.

"Well…" Peter was stumped.

"Yay! I win. Let's go."

"But, but-"

"C'mon Peter," James said pulling him by the collar. "We have to change into animagus before Remus changes into...Moony."

* * *

"So ladies, what shall we do tonight?" Jade asked. She'd been staring out the window for twenty minutes. "It's Friday night, and we've just been sitting here," she said. Lily nor Casey responded.

"Don't you guys understand? I'm bored to death," she said dramatically putting her head down against the windowsill.

"Actually me too," Casey said closing her potion's book, "I have nothing to do since Remus has a detention tonight."

"So why don't you guys study and read ahead? We have a tough year coming up," Lily said.

"Are you crazy!" Jade accused, "It's only been the first week of school and already they've loaded us with homework. I've been working hard all week. I refuse to lift another finger. It's only sensible that I deserve some fun."

"Fine then. Suit yourself," Lily said.

"Casey, don't you want to do something fun for a change?" Jade asked.

"Yeah. I'm getting pretty tired of all this work too."

"Where are the other guys?" Jade asked.

"You mean James, Sirius, and Peter?" Casey asked.

"Of course. Who else?"

"Remus told me they had detention with him also."

"_Yeah if you call running around with a werewolf on the full moon a detention_," Lily thought.

"Darn," Jade said disappointed, "I was hoping we could mess with them. What did they do to get in trouble anyways?"

"I don't know. I asked Remus but he dropped his books and we sort of got sidetracked after that," Casey said, "Now to think of it. He was acting really strange when I asked him."

"He's probably just stressed out from all the work they've been giving us." Lily said.

"Yeah I guess," Casey answered weakly.

Noticing the worried tone in her voice Jade decided to change the topic. "Let's go explore!" she said excitedly.

"Okay. Anything's better than sitting here," Casey said getting up from her bed.

"Are you coming Lily?" Jade asked.

"Absolutely not, and you shouldn't go either. Its way past the time we're aloud to be out."

"But you're going to miss out!" Jade said.

"Ha. I'm perfectly happy staying here working."

"We're going to miss you," Jade said making a pouting face, "You have to come!"

"Let's go Jade," Casey said practically dragging Jade out of the dormitory. "Bye Lily!" they yelled in unison just as the door closed shut.

* * *

­"Ouch Bigfoot watch where you're stepping," James said.

"My name is actually Padfoot," Sirius corrected.

James, Sirius, and Peter were walking outside under James' invisibility cloak in the middle of the night. They walked through long untamed grass until they reached the Whomping Willow.

"It's safe," James said looking around. He slipped off the cloak. "You guys ready for one hell of a night?"

"Yeah," Peter said.

"More ready than ever," Sirius said with a grin. Sirius swished his wand, and his body morphed into a big, furry, black, dog; Padfoot. Then Peter did the same thing with his wand. For a moment it seemed as though he had disappeared, but then a rat scurried out from under Peter's clothes; Wormtail. Lastly, James swished his wand and his body morphed into a great, white stag; Prongs.

The animals paced around restlessly until they heard a howl. The black dog's tail began to wag with excitement. Only seconds later a large creature was crawling out of a whole in the Whomping Willow. It stood up large and tall on two legs for a moment, puffing out his chest and gritting his teeth at the three animals. It was Remus in his werewolf form or rather Moony. The dog did not waste a second. He charged at the werewolf and pounced on him. The werewolf, now on his back, kicked the dog back with his hind legs. The stag joined them too with the rat following closely behind, and they played like this growling and kicking each other around. The four boys may have looked different but they weren't that different after all.

* * *

"Let's go back," Casey said. She and Jade had been roaming around the castle for about an hour without finding anything remotely interesting.

"Wait, we can't leave yet. There have got to be tons of neat things in this gigantic castle; we just haven't found any yet," Jade said.

"I don't think we're going to find anything either. This is starting to become more boring than sitting around in the common room."

"_C'mon. C'mon," _"Jade thought while pacing up and down the hall, "_There has to be something really fun and cool in this place. I just need a really awesome room… somewhere I could play quidditch or something."_

"Woah. Did you see that?" Casey asked.

"Did I see what?" asked Jade.

"That door. It just appeared."

"Are you okay? Maybe we should go back."

"No, I'm serious. I could have sworn that door wasn't there a second ago." Casey said. She approached the door, opened it and took a look inside.

"Never mind, it doesn't look that special to me except it's really big. Come look." Casey said. Jade took a few steps forward so that she was standing next to Casey.

"Wow! This isn't just any regular room!" Jade shrieked with excitement. She ran inside the room and twirled around.

"This is a quidditch pitch!"

* * *

Lily closed her books. She had to admit that she was tired of studying. Ever since the first day of school she'd only been seen without a book if she was eating or patrolling. She sort of wished that she'd gone exploring with Jade and Casey. Not that she really wanted to break the rules, but it would be nice to do something different for a change. She decided she would go see if she could find them.

* * *

Casey walked deeper into the room and realized that Jade was right. The room was a quidditch pitch. She hadn't noticed before but on either ends of the room were two goal posts.

"This is awesome!" Jade said.

"Wow. You've really got a powerful will. I didn't think we were going to find anything." Casey said.

"Wait. That's just it. I think it was my will," Jade said.

"What are you talking about?" Casey asked.

"Well, I was thinking about finding a quidditch room when the door just appeared. Don't you think that's more than just a coincidence?" Jade asked Casey.

"I'm not sure, but you're saying this room appeared here because you wanted it too?"

"Yeah. You try it. Just think hard on something you want the room to turn into."

"Okay," Casey said unbelievingly. She squinted her eyes and thought for a minute but nothing happened. "Jade do you really expect this room to just turn into something else? I really do think it was just a coincidence. It wouldn't be that surprising for doors to just appear in this place."

"No I'm sure it wasn't just a coincidence. Just try harder."

"Fine, but if it doesn't work this time will you finally admit that you're psycho?"

"Yes, I promise." Jade agreed with a smile.

Casey closed her eyes and concentrated harder. In a matter of seconds the goal posts disappeared and the walls were covered in mirrors. A long wooden bar aligned the wall on three sides of the room. The floors were changed from grass to wood, the ceilings were lowered, and a record player sat in a corner of the room.

"It worked!" Casey squealed jumping up and down.

"What did you turn the room into?" Jade asked still trying to figure out what the room was supposed to be.

"It's a dance room!" Casey said placing her left hand on the ballet bar. It was the first time Jade noticed that Casey had great posture. She did a number of complicated ballet steps that Jade was sure must have taken a long time to learn.

"You're really good," Jade said amazed.

"No, I haven't practiced in months," Casey said feeling ashamed of herself, "I used to take ballet classes, but when I came to Hogwarts I had to quit. During the breaks I would take lots of classes, but I've been slacking off lately. This last break I didn't even take one class. I guess I forgot how good it feels to dance."

Jade sat down at the back of the dance room, and watched a different Casey move gracefully across the room. It was almost as if Casey was a different person when she danced. She leaped effortlessly through the air, and pirouetted with great ease. It was amazing.

* * *

Lily saw shadows go by. "_That must be Casey and Jade,"_ she thought. She walked in the direction that she'd seen the shadows go until she saw about six figures, and that's when she realized they weren't Casey and Jade. Lily walked towards the group to tell them to go back to bed and to give them the usual lecture that Head girls and boys give. As she got closer though, she could clearly distinguish two of the figures as Severus and Bellatrix. Lily stopped in her tracks and turned back around and walked in the opposite direction. She knew better than to approach those two. As she quickly walked down the hall she was so nervous thinking they would see her that she forgot about the step in the middle of the hall. She tripped on the step making a loud clinking noise when she fell to the ground. She stayed there for a moment hoping that they didn't hear her, but it was too late.

"Who's there?" Bellatrix asked.

Lily lifted herself up and began to run.

"Come back here!" Severus snarled.

In an instant Lily was lifted off her feet and pulled backwards against her own will by Severus' spell. He pulled her towards him until she was floating in the air a few feet in front of him. Bellatrix took Lily's wand and then Severus threw her to the ground.

"Did you really think you could escape us?" Severus asked.

"Of course she did. She's a mudblood, another name for idiot," said Bellatrix. The four hooded slytherins behind Severus and Bellatrix laughed. "Mudbloods are all the same," Bellatrix went on, "They aren't brave enough to fight so instead they run like cowards. Isn't that right Lily?"

"You know that's not true. There are lots of great wizards that aren't pure blood, and I'm no coward." Lily said defiantly. Bellatrix looked at Lily with disgust.

"Fine then mudblood, prove it! Defend yourself now you fool," Severus said with a wicked grin.

Bellatrix tossed Lily her wand. Lily stood up bravely and prepared for a tough fight. She was scared to death, but she wasn't a coward and she wasn't about to show it either.


	6. The Enchantments of the Moonlight

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.k.!

A/N: Yay the sixth chapter is done! Thank you to all my reviewers. You guys keep me writing. Hope you like it and please review.

* * *

Lily and Severus bowed to each other, each of them too disgusted with the other to bow all the way down. Lily knew she was really out of luck because even if she beat Severus she would still have to battle Bellatrix and the other four slytherins.

"Locomortor Mortis!" Lily yelled firing her first spell.

"Protego!" he yelled deflecting the spell back at her.

She quickly jumped out of the way and dodged the spell.

"Tarantalegra!" Severus shot at Lily.

This time the spell hit her. She felt her legs jerking around. She had no control over them anymore. Bellatrix and the other slytherins laughed coldly at Lily. Lily shook with fear. How much more of this was she going to have to endure? She remembered all the times she stood up for Severus. All the times she saved him from James and the others. Why was he doing this to her? She began to feel angry. The slytherins kept laughing inciting Lily's anger even more.

"Conjunctivitis!" Lily fired at Severus.

"Argh!" Severus yelled when the spell hit him giving him pink eye. He forgot about the spell that he was casting on Lily and she was let free of it. She ran towards a statue, but just before she could take cover behind it Bellatrix hit her with a spell. Boils covered her left am.

Lily stood behind the statue clenching her left arm in pain. The boils kept on spreading, and soon they would cover her whole body if she didn't get to the hospital wing fast.

* * *

Jade and Casey were walking back to the common room. Jade had had to just about drag Casey out of the magical room. They both loved it and couldn't wait to tell Lily about it. There was an extra bounce in each of their steps. You could tell that they were very pleased with themselves for discovering something so special. On their way back to the common room the two girls exchanged different ideas about how they could use the room.

Their daydreams were suddenly interrupted when they heard laughter.

It was a shrill, cold, evil laughter. Jade and Casey were sure they knew who it belonged to. They'd heard it may times before. The laughter could only come from the slytherins. Then they saw a figure jump behind a statue. A strand of light from the full moon was coming in from a window near the statue. From where they were standing, Jade and Casey could see a glimmer of red hair shining in the moonlight. They knew it was Lily.

The two girls ran towards the scene; Jade to the slytherins, and Casey to Lily. The slytherins hearing the footsteps thought they were professors and began to run. Bellatrix lagged behind though to fire one more spell at Lily, but the nonverbal spell instead hit Casey. She flew to the floor gasping for breath. Jade and Lily ran over to her. Casey was clenching her throat and opening her mouth desperately trying to get air.

"She's choking!" Jade said in a panic.

"Bellatrix must have hit her with a spell to close her airway," Lily said.

"There has to be a way to reverse the spell, or at least one to allow a person to breathe!" Jade said.

"I know!" Lily shrieked, "But I don't remember learning anything like that!"

Suddenly Casey let her head fall back.

"Oh no!" Lily screamed, "She's knocked out. We only have a little bit of time."

"What's wrong?" they heard a voice ask, and then Sirius, Peter, and James just appeared out of nowhere.

"She can't breathe," Lily said, "Bellatrix hit her with a spell to-"

James put a hand out in front of Lily motioning her to stop talking.

"Anapeno!" he said. Casey let out a little sound, and her breathing returned to normal, but she was still knocked out.

"She should be fine now," James said, "she'll wake up soon."

The two girls embraced Casey.

"Yay for James; the hero of the day!" Sirius announced to the group.

"Thanks James," Jade said.

"Yeah, thanks," Lily said, "Where'd you learn that spell?"

"I know a lot of spells from fighting with the slytherins. That hasn't been the first time I've had to use that spell."

"Are they trying to kill us or something?" Lily said throwing her arms up. When she did that she felt pain in her arm. She remembered the spell Bellatrix had hit her with that had given her boils.

"You're hurt," James said gently picking her arm up.

"Its fine," Lily said snatching it away from James.

"Lily, you have to go to the hospital wing before it spreads," he said.

"Well right now it's more important that we get Casey to the hospital wing,"

"If you say so," he said. Then he bent down to pick Casey up.

* * *

"Casey took a pretty hard hit, but she's going to be fine. I will be keeping her until tomorrow," Madame Pomfrey told the group only moments after they had carried Casey to the hospital wing, "It's a very good thing you knew that spell Potter."

Everyone shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to Casey if James hadn't known the spell.

"Tell me. What were you kids doing for this to have happened?" Madame Pomfrey asked the group as she finished mending Lily's arm.

The boys looked at each other. They didn't actually know what the girls had been doing. They had just come in from giving Remus company during the full moon when they found Lily and Jade panicking over Casey's unconscious body.

When no one answered, Madame Pomfrey turned to Lily, the most mature of the group. "Tell me dear, what were you doing?"

Lily was never very good about making up bogus lies on the spot, and since she couldn't think of any other way to get out of this she just decided to tell the truth. "Well, we ran into some slytherins. I won't say anything more."

Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "Do you kids realize how dangerous this is?"

"Yes ma'am. We know who were dealing with," Lily said.

"Yeah, a bunch of scumbags," Sirius said.

"Mr. Black, for your information I could easily give all of you a month's worth of detention! If I were you I would be on my best behavior! Now get to bed; all of you, and do not take any detours!"

* * *

"I could kill her!" Jade said to the group on their way back from the hospital wing to the Gryffindor tower.

"Madame Pomfrey?" Lily asked in disbelief.

"No, Bellatrix!" Jade said.

"I've always wanted to kill her," Sirius said.

"Who wouldn't? She's the slimiest of them all!" Jade said in disgust.

"Personally, my most hated slytherin is Severus," James contributed to the conversation.

"He's definitely pretty high up on the hate list," Sirius agreed.

When they got to the common room James pulled Lily over before she went in.

"We've got a big problem, or actually Remus does," he told her.

"Oh no. Don't tell me something happened to him during the full moon."

"No, nothing like that. I mean that Casey is in the hospital wing right now, and Remus always goes straight there after he regains his human form."

"But this can't happen! Remus hasn't told her he's a werewolf yet!" Lily said.

"I know, so she's going to have to find out the hard way."

* * *

Remus turned the knob of the hospital wing door. He stumbled inside trying to feel his way around the room in the dark. His whole body ached and throbbed. He automatically went towards the first bed he could find. He stubbed his toe on the bed post, but by now pain was a familiarity and it compared nothing to the immense pain he was already feeling. He tossed back the covers and dropped himself into the bed. He kicked and turned trying to find a comfortable position. Memories of the full moon started coming back to him. He woke up from this nightmare out of breath. He looked around the room trying to find some comfort, fighting back sleep, but he did not. Then something caught his eye; a head of yellow hair, and fair skin.

"Casey is that you?" he asked before he was mercilessly taken over by sleep to recall the horrors of the full moon.

* * *

Remus awoke to find Casey sitting next to him on his bed. She had been watching him sleep for a while.

"Remus, what happened to you?" she asked when she saw him open his eyes.

He didn't answer. He took her hand in his, kissed it, and set it back down. He looked away from her.

"I'm sorry." he said.

"What are you sorry for?" she asked.

"I wanted to tell you, but I was scared, and now," he paused; "Now you're going to have to find out like this."

"Remus, what are you talking about?"

"Casey, I don't think we can do this."

She leaned her head against his chest and whispered, "You're breaking up with me aren't you?"

He lifted her head from his chest, and held it in his hands.

"Yes I am," he said gently kissing her forehead.

A Tear fell from her eye, and then another.

"Don't make this hard for me Casey,"

"But why?" she asked.

He didn't answer her.

"Don't I have the right to know?"

He looked at her eyes, streaming with tears. He might have the right to keep quiet, but he knew he owed this to her. No matter how ugly the truth was, she deserved to know.

"Do you see all my cuts? Do you see these scars? And are you aware that I am absent from class once a month? I always told you I was sick, or my grandmother was sick and I needed to go take care of her. You probably know that's a lie."

She nodded.

"I'm a werewolf, and have been since I was seven. I transform every full moon."

With her hand she traced the scars on his face while she absorbed the information.

"That's why you wanted to break up with me?" she asked.

"No one should have to date a werewolf," he answered.

"Am I no one to you?"

"I didn't mean-"

"You didn't? Then how come you didn't tell me or how come you broke up with me? Did you think I would care for you any less once I knew?"

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I was trying to protect you!" he said.

"It didn't occur to me that you would think I was so shallow," she hissed.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"I wish I could have been there for you on other full moons. I wish you wouldn't have hid this from me."

"I didn't want to risk losing you," he said softly, "I love you."

Silently forgiving him she held his head in her hands and kissed him tenderly. Intensely and passionately he returned the gesture with his own lips.

"I love you too," she said.


End file.
